


By the book (the one to hold the strings)

by myhappyface



Category: Oz (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-01
Updated: 2012-04-01
Packaged: 2017-11-02 20:42:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/373132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myhappyface/pseuds/myhappyface
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter Schibetta's luck is beginning to turn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	By the book (the one to hold the strings)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2010 oz-magi gift exchange, for Wish #5, Request 1: Peter Schibetta, Dino Ortolani, Nino Schibetta, "It should've been me." Thanks to carlyinrome for the beta and the Italian guidance. <3

On Mondays, Peter visits his father to talk about business. Shipments, money and soldiers, politicians and judges: the machinery of what they do. They speak in code, a rapidfire Italian shorthand no one outside the family could hope to understand.

He tells Nino about the birth of Dino's son on a Sunday; he tells Nino about Mama's cancer on a Sunday. Mondays are for the family business; Sundays are for family.

Like everything else in Oz, the family visitation room is leeched of color; the walls are a cold, industrial yellow that makes Nino look older, makes him look _old_. All his life, Peter could count on his father's strength, the unstoppable force of him, but Oz is killing him one day at a time, and there's no stopping _it_.

Peter takes Nino's hand and begins telling him about Friday's doctor visit.

 

"You gotta talk to Dino, Pop. He's runnin' wild about those Irish goons, and I can't get him to listen to reason. He's gonna do something stupid" ( _like get locked up_ , Peter thinks, but does not say) "or get himself hurt, and you're the only one he'll listen to."

Nino sighs. "Dino will do what Dino will do, _figlio mio_. You can't make him hear you; you can only look after him."

"Papa, I'm _trying_ , but he don't listen, you can't tell him _shit_ , and. . ." Peter trails off, sick; Nino watches him patiently. If it were anyone else, Peter would be more guarded, would not allow the burning in his eyes, but his father has always been understanding of Peter's shortcomings. 

 

After dinner, Peter and Dino go to the bar. It's quiet and dark, one of the few places outside the house approved for discussing business: the booths are quiet, and the bartenders are quieter. Twenty years ago, Nino gave Carlo the startup money when he and his wife came over from Italy, and Carlo hadn't let anybody named _Schibetta_ pay for a drink since. Peter is making an effort to explain the financial benefits of leaving the Irish to do their thing for a little longer.

"I'm just the muscle, Petey," Dino says. He's still smiling, but Peter can tell that they're walking the fine edge of his temper already. "I leave all that _Godfather_ shit to you and the old man."

"Dino, I'm serious. Pop said cool it; you gotta back off O'Reily. He could be a problem, I know, but we got bigger issues than one punk Mick right now! Once we clear the homeboys out, then we can deal with -- "

"We gotta take care of those Irish motherfuckers first, though," Dino interrupts. "You know I'm right, Petey, you _know_. I love your old man, God knows, but he doesn't get it; he's been locked up too long."

Peter is starting to think introducing alcohol to the equation was a miscalculation. The more he presses Dino - he brings up Jeanie, the kids; he tries the Nino card again - the more stubborn Dino gets, until finally Dino shoves his chair back from the table and stands, his body a tense, unhappy line.

"I guess if you ain't gonna back me then I'm doing this one alone," Dino says.

"Jesus, Dino, come _on_ ," Peter says, standing up, but Dino's already drawn down on his plan, and once he knows what he's going to do, once he gives voice to it, there's no changing his mind. Already he looks calmer, more certain, and he smiles at Peter, reaching over to ruffle his hair like he did when they were kids.

"Aww, come on, Petey, you know what they say, right? Better one day as a lion." Dino pauses, hesitant in a way he rarely is. In Peter's memory, Dino is always the experienced one, always the tough one; he never wavers. "You sure?"

Peter nods. They'll get through it, though. They're family; it's what they do.

 

Peter gets arrested three days after his father's funeral. He has money and an accounts book on him, which is so fucking stupid he can't believe Nino didn't rise from the dead to slap him for it. If he'd been thinking, it never would have happened; but then, he hadn't been thinking. Not since Pop died. 

No, maybe before that. Maybe since Mama died. Maybe since Dino.

He had been a good son, the way Dino had been a good nephew. Until they put Nino in the ground, until Peter had seen pictures from the autopsy, intestines shredded by the ground-up glass, his father choking on his own blood, Peter would have done anything Nino told him, without thought or question. Love and loyalty were the only factors in operation.

Now he sees, though. Now he knows. His father died in Oz, but that was only because he didn't understand. Some mook will get to you, no matter how many guys are supposed to be between you and violence, no matter how much your son loves you. The love and the loyalty Nino prized above everything else were no protection, and they were no way to run a business. 

Peter's a numbers man, always has been. And by the numbers, love just doesn't measure up.


End file.
